‘Who would do this’: Grave of father killed 27 years ago found desecrated

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV/Gray News) - A Missouri family is searching for answers and calling for justice after the final resting place of a father was desecrated.

The Kansas City Police Department said it was called to the Forest Hill Cemetery on Tuesday for reports that a grave had been disturbed.

Officials said the family of Delshon L. Dupriest was contacted after his grave was found disrupted.

Jamesetta Blandhood, Dupriest’s mother, said she was shocked by what she saw when she arrived at the cemetery.

“It was like somebody had just dug it up,” she said. “It looked like they had put dynamite and just blew it open.”

Blandhood said her son was killed in 1998. She also said he was a father to nine children and a beloved friend to many, and she didn’t know why someone would want to dig up his body 27 years after his death.

“I don’t know if they were looking for something or think he had something, but after 27 years, who would do this? Who hates him so badly that they would just tear up his grave like that?” Blandhood said.

The Kansas City Police Department said an investigation had been opened into the property crime, and detectives were on the scene gathering evidence and eyewitness accounts.

A broken gate could be seen in the cemetery, and officials said they believe the suspect may have rammed through it with a vehicle.

The cemetery’s owners were on the scene. They said they had “nothing to do with this” and were doing everything they could to cooperate with the police investigation.

The damage to Dupriest’s grave was extensive. His family said he was buried under a cement vault, which was broken into pieces.

“What did he have in there that you wanted so bad?” Blandhood said. “I can’t say he did something because he wasn’t even living. He was dead. I don’t know, and I thought this would be a safe place. So, mothers and fathers, watch out for your kids, the dead ones too, watch out for them.”